September 4, 2016
Day 18
21.3 miles / 233.5 total
Steps: 55,137
Tuolumne Backpackers campground
Days without shower 2
Holy crap it's so incredibly cold and windy!! My thermometer on my pack says around 39° - which doesn’t count for the wind chill. What the heck is this shit? I look out at one if the most beautiful lakes - Thousand Island Lake, it's the first day I don't want to be here. It's cold and super windy. I got very frustrated trying to pack up my tent and just really would rather be cuddled up with Reecy on my couch. I am in a total bitch mood and snapped at Luke. I apologized and gave him a hug before I started off for the day, but still kinda feel bad. I guess after being together off and on for over 17 days, it's not bad that it's the first time I've snapped or lost my temper.
I was still in a mood and was walking pretty quickly. The first pass was Island pass... I didn't even realize it was a pass until I was going down and looked at the map. It was only about 5 more miles until Donahue Pass. This one would be much more noticeable. I still wasn't in the best of moods but I knew I would get service at the top of the pass and my motivation was being able to call my sister and mom! I put in my headphones and blasted some Taylor swift. She always makes me happy. It was really beautiful going up and my mood was getting much better. You really can't be mad when there is so much beauty around. There were a lot of little steams and waterfalls. It was still cold and windy but spirits were much higher. I'm really hoping my moodiness is not due to the time of the month. I really don't want to have to deal with that out here. I have been a bit emotional today as well. Who knows? I am a little worried. If you are reading this as a girl who wants to hike long distance – continue on… if not skip to the next paragraph. This is such a hard thing to deal with. I brought my diva cup out here with me and have “practiced” with it once but I have the IUD and I do not typically have a monthly visitor so it was difficult. I am so unsure what my body will do with 3 weeks of constant activity so it is an uneasy feeling. I do not want to use tampons, panty liners, or pads because those are trash… and create more trash that you have to carry. A diva (ministration) cup seemed to be the best option for me. After note: I never actually had to deal with this being a situation! Yay!
I was getting really hungry and everyone going the opposite direction as me who had already hit the pass, said the pass was even more windy and cold. I found a place with a little coverage from wind, in the sun, and pulled out my stuff to make lunch. I figured I'd have about a mile left until the pass and needed to eat something to make it up and over. As I was making my hummus the boys walk up. I apologize again for being a bitch and they join me for a break/lunch. They are talking about making it over the pass and ALL the way to Tuolumne!! Spoiler Alert if you already looked at the location for today. Haha
That would be OVER 20 miles for the day. Their argument was that after the pass (7 miles in) it would be mostly downhill and the grill/store closes at 5 so we could get drinks and other food. I told them I wasn't sure I was up for it and would decide later or catch them the next day. At the top of the pass I was able to FaceTime with the family who were at Walmart. It was awesome because Momma, Rob, & Becca where all together!!! As I was talking to them Luke came up with a snowball and tossed one at me. Just in case you are wondering - out here AT&T has the best service. Dylan wasn't able to get service but was ok not using our phones. I was able to post a message to Facebook and saw that Nicole got engaged!!! I was able to talk to her for a minute and can't wait to hear the whole story! I also was able to call my Aunt Noreen because it was her birthday! It's worked out for being able to call some family on birthdays on top of the mountains.
We likely stayed up there too long and then finally headed down. My stomach wasn't very happy with me today and I had to stop a few times. I may run out of my toilet paper early!! I only did 4 squares per day with a couple extra and have definitely gone through the extras.
Once we got down I said I'd stay with the boys for a bit but wasn't sure how long. About an hour or so after I said that I didn't think I'd be able to do 20 miles and we said bye. My stomach was hurting pretty bad and I was super uncomfortable. I took a break, dug another stupid hole, changed into shorts because there was little wind in the valley and it was getting warm, put some arnica gel on my knee, and took a Motrin 800. I took a minute to compose myself and decided to tough it out and make it. I put my phone on my battery charger, plugged my headphones in, turned on my favorite playlist, and marched on. I wasn't sure if I was going to catch up to them and had to tell myself not to look at the distance I had left except for once an hour. Once I had a little over 6 miles left, just over a 10K, I played with the math and broke that down. It's hard to go from running an average of 10 minute miles to walking about 30 minute miles with a pack. A bit farther and I started to see signs… Yosemite Signs! Then, I saw the boys sitting there having a snack!! I was super excited to see them and started dancing/singing to the song that was on, Uptown Funk! I stopped and took some of their trail mix and said let's go. As soon as I started out I saw a coyote. I was surprised to see my first one and was sad they were not closer to see it. I led for a little bit until I got tired. I got pretty far behind again. My knee started to hurt and my stomach was giving me problems again.
Eventually I made it to the campground and started asking people where the store was because I knew the boys would be there. As I walked up I saw Dylan sitting on a picnic table with a beer and bag of chips! I dropped my pack and Luke walked up with beer and chips in hand. I snacked on their stuff before heading inside. I really wanted a real bottle of wine but they didn't have an opener I could just use. I decided I would find one eventually from one of the campers; so got a bottle, chips, and a seven layered dip! It didn't take me long to find an opener. A guy had one in his car! I wanted to hug him but I likely smelled really bad so I refrained. He opened it for me and I drank right out of the bottle to begin with. We sat there for a while and ate until we decided what was next. The boys went in the store to get more beer and dinner for the night. We got everything and headed up the hill to the backpackers camp. It was packed. We kinda found a spot next to a group of people and I asked Luke if I needed to set up and tent or if I could just stay with him! Yay for getting out of setting up a tent! We got semi set up and drank some more. Then was time for food! The boys got sandwich stuff which was awesome. We ate and drank and then I went to join a fire that was close to us. The guys were mostly older dads of boy scouts that had outgrown there time to camp with them and 2 guys in college. They are all from Orange County and were really nice. They asked me a ton of questions about the JMT trip so far and we talked for a while. Once the fire started to die down they got ready for bed and we sat there a little bit longer finishing our drinks. We finally got ready and crawled in our tents. I enjoy sleeping next to Luke, but we both stink!
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